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 Ancient
Cradle of Civilization
Imagine : You are
relaxing on the desk in a wicker
chair, during the late afternoon,
sailing down the Nile, The waiter
has served you hibiscus tea.
A gentle breeze wafts across
the river. The setting sun has
dipped sand dunes and cliffs
in a golden honey light. Water
buffalo,ibis and camels crowd
the shore. Fishermen throw their
nets, children paddle, a feliah
ploughs his field. Now and then
you sail past villages of loam
houses, embedded in the palm
groves and juicy green sugar
cane. Later a pharaonic temple
entices you to shore. Along
this wondrous river (without
which Egypt would not be) an
advanced culture blossomed already
5000 years ago. Its traces,
buildings of unparalleled monumentality
and splendour, border the valley
for more than a thousand kilometers,
from the Delta and the glorious
harbour of Alexandria to the
great, historic urban centres
of Cairo, Luxor, Aswan and far
beyond the First Cataract. In
front of such a divine scenery,
every river cruise becomes a
journey in time – to distant,
secret pasts, albeit in a
very present world whose grace
and gloriously old fashioned
contemplativeness nourishes
one’s fantasy and touches the
heart.
 Cairo:
Pyramids, mosques and modern
museums
He who has not seen Cairo
has not seen the world. (Thus
written in the tales of the
Arabian Nights.) Indeed the
Capital of Egypt, named Al-Qahira,
“the victorious”, like no other
city on earth, embodies 150
generations of history. On its
western edge, the Great Pyramids
rise majestically towards heaven,
as witnesses to a time when
faith in immortality truly moved
mountains. Its heart, the maze
of lanes in the Islamic old
town between mighty mosques
and caravanserais, invites us
to a fascinating stroll back
to the Middle Ages on the legendary
sultans such as Salah el-Din.
Nearer the Nile however, the
metropolis pulsates to the rhythm
of modern day life – with the
opera , shopping malls, contemporary
museums, and a trendy food and
nightclub scene. And slightly
further south, in Old Cairo,
the Copts tend to their precious
early Christian inheritance,
and the ancient roots of the
city remain exposed for exploration.
Alexandria
& Mediterranean Coast : Grandeur,
great heritage and sandy beaches
Also Egypt’s legendary port
can recount tales of an urban
heyday. Founded by Alexender
the Great, and famous in ancient
times for its scholars, its
lighthouse and its library.
Alexandria once again became
a focus of cosmopolitan thinking
in the 1900s at the intersection
of the Mediterranean, Arabian
and African worlds. The grandeur
of former times is still alive
today, not only in the books
of Lawrence Durreli or Konstantinos
Kavafis, but also on the Corniche
with its numerous restaurants
(famous for their tasty, freshly
caught seafood) and the new
“Bibliotheca Alexandrina”, as
well as the noble quarters with
its cafes and Art Deco cinema-palaces.
Alexandria continues to shine
as the “Pearl of the Eastern
Mediterranean” thanks to its
genuine oriental flair (such
as the district of El-Gumruk
near the Sea Fort of Qaitbey)
and its valuable archaeological
relicts from the times
of Archimedes and Cleopatra.
 From
Mediterranean beaches to the
historic monuments of central
Egypt
West of the metropolis,
far beyond Marsa Matruh, magnificent
fine sandy beaches stretch along
the shores of the turquoise-blue
water. (To own ones holiday
home – an apartment or a villa
– is considered a very inviting
investment among locals and
foreigners alike). The delta
bordering east however, pampers
the senses with lush verdant
vegetation. The ancient ruins
– such as at Tanis and Abu Menas
– and sites- such as Rosetta
and the Coptic monasteries of
Wadi el-Natroun – both steeped
in history, offer cultural tidbits
off the beaten tourist tracks.
South of Cairo, pearl upon pearl
of Pharaonic architecture lays
threaded along the left Nile
bank: Memphis, the Necropolis
of Saqara, the pyramids of Dashur,
El-Lisht and Meidum. Further
up-river, in Central Egypt,
not far from El-Minya, are the
rock graves of Beni Hasan and
Tell El-Amarna, as well as the
remainders of the residential
city of the heretic Pharaoh
Akhenaton. Beyond Assiut (and
around Sohag), are more monasteries
whose roots date back to the
5th Century. Finally
two absolute highlights that
mark the border to Upper Egypt
are the temples of Abydos and
Dendera.
 The
sacred heart of ancient Egypt
: Luxor and the West Bank
The start and climax of
every journey to the upper Nile
is the small town of Luxor.
In the temples, particularly
in Karnak (which for many centuries
functioned as the country’s
central sanctuary of the god
Amun), the magnificent columned
halls are bound to stupefy every
visitor. Over the river in the
Necropolis of Thebes , one is
overwhelmed by the gigantic
size of the mortuary temples
of rulers such as Ramses II
or III, and Queen Hatshepsut.
Another spectacular sight is
the valley of the Kings where
the glorious rulers of the New
Kingdom were laid to rest more
than 3000 years ago, and where,
in 1922, Howard Carter Brought
to light the legendary treasure
of Tutankhamun.
Grande
Finale way down south: Aswan
and Abu Simbel
 On
the journey further south, three
great temples awaits inspection
– the temple in Esna, devoted
to the ram-headed god Khnum,
the Horus sanctuary in Edfu
and the Ptolemaic double temples
of Kom Ombo. Next port of call:
Aswan. Here there is yet more
to be seen in the way of Pharaonic
sites, in particular The Temple
of Philae. A lasting impression
is left by the enchanting river
scenery of the First Cataract.
Later on, after a sail on a
Felucca during sundown, a stroll
through the botanical garden
on Kitchener’s island or five
o’clock tea on the terrace of
the Old Cataract Hotel, it’s
easy to understand why Europeans
pagued by cold once preferred
to spend whole winters here!
The grand finale is set deep
in the South at the Temple of
Ramses II in Abu Simbel. Its
colossal statues reign supreme
above Lake Nassar (since the
60s thanks to an ingenious engineering
achievement) and they proclaim
to the world the eternal fame
of the creator and his realm.
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